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<\/p>\nToronto raised animator Maggie Kang’s directorial debut is now a global phenomenon. She is the creator and co-director behind Netflix’s hit of the summer, KPOP Demon Hunters. CBC Toronto’s\u00a0Kelda Yuen sat down with Maggie Kang at the CBC\u00a0headquarters downtown\u00a0to learn more about how her Korean roots set the stage for the film.<\/p>\n
Here is that conversation, edited for clarity and length.<\/p>\n
Q: This is such a global phenomenon, probably the biggest entertainment story of the year. This really is a movie that is being embraced and obsessed over across demographics. Was there a moment where you were like, it really hit you that this is something major?<\/p>\n
A: It was almost instantaneous. As soon as it came on air, it was like everybody was posting all these videos and reaction things. I think it was like day five or six. I was religiously on Twitter. It was like 2\u00a0a.m.\u00a0L.A. time, and I’m scrolling and thinking, like, I should probably go to bed. And it started to turn into Korean because Korea was waking up. And I think that’s when I really realized how global it was.<\/p>\n
Q:\u00a0 You were born in Seoul. You moved to Toronto when you were very little. You grew up in North York. And North York does have quite a sizeable Korean immigrant population. How was it growing up with that unique experience of straddling two different cultures? What was it like for you in the 90s?<\/p>\n
A: We went to Korea a lot and spent, like, full summers there. I feel like I had equally 50-50 cultural influence and the movie I think reflects that. I think also just growing up in Toronto, where so much of all our different cultures are really celebrated,\u00a0really allowed me to continue to embrace my Korean heritage \u2014 even though I didn’t have a lot of Korean friends. I had a lot of Chinese friends and learned about their culture a lot too. But I think just seeing all of our cultures being appreciated, you find pride in that. And I think Toronto really allowed me to keep that pride.<\/p>\n
WATCH\u00a0| KPop Demon Hunters part of growing craze for\u00a0Korean media, prof says:\u00a0<\/p>\n
KPop Demon Hunters capitalizing on wave of Korean media popularity, prof says<\/p>\n
The Netflix film KPop Demon Hunters has become the streaming service’s most-watched film ever, and some of its songs are breaking chart records. Ji-yoon An, assistant professor of Asian studies at the University of B.C., says the film occupies an interesting space as a Hollywood production that did not originate in Korea, though she notes it is made by Korean Canadian creator Maggie Kang.<\/p>\n
Q: How did you get into animation?\u00a0<\/p>\n
A: I grew up with a dad who really loves films. He recognized that I had a talent for drawing and storytelling. So he was the first one to buy me an animation book. And that’s when I realized that this could be a real job. And a family friend went to Sheridan College for a different program.So [I applied] to Sheridan and studied classical animation there. And in my graduating year, I was basically scouted by DreamWorks Animation to come train there and learn story and storyboarding. And so collectively, I spent 10 years at DreamWorks and then went to a bunch of other studios and did a lot of work on a lot of films.<\/p>\n
Q: Let’s talk about this idea you had for KPop\u00a0Demon Hunters. This was about seven years ago when the seeds were first planted. Tell me about that process and how did this idea evolve?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0It was really like a combination of things that I was thinking about, just, you know, the tone of the girls and how silly they are, Korean mythology, and the K-pop part\u00a0was very last. Seven years feels like a really long time for anybody to be on one thing. But with animation, you go through different phases. So at first you’re in [the] development phase, which means you’re writing a lot, you’re writing the script, you’re creating art that’s kind of going to capture the essence of the movie and the feel of it. So you work kind of big to small. The next phase is going into digital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Q: I love the animation style. You call it, I guess, facial poses, as an animator.\u00a0I love how you would see them kind of contort. It kind of got that anime, manga style. What made you decide to use those kind of elements?<\/p>\n
A: We were very inspired by Sailor Moon and just a lot of anime. I remember growing up, in Korea, I used to watch anime, manga, manhwa inspired cartoons. So a lot of that was just inspiration, pulling inspiration from\u00a0the 2D look, but always keeping it 3D in our Movie.<\/p>\n
Q: Music is a huge part of this movie. When you were working on this movie, how important was it to you that the music, that each song could compete with all the pop songs on there that you would hear on the radio?<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0Very important.\u00a0And that is the reason why we partnered with the Black Label. We felt that it was important to partner with the Korean label that produces this kind of music. K-pop is very specific in\u00a0the production and the process. Also working with songwriters who have written a lot of K-pop hits. And it was\u00a0fun. It was a really fun process and they were all very excited to work with us.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
Q: Why do you think this film resonates with so many people of different ages?\u00a0<\/p>\n
A: I think the themes are very universal and very\u00a0relevant to today. I think with social media \u2026 We kind of present a side of ourselves through social media, but maybe we’re not the same person\u00a0behind closed doors. And I think that kind of theme really resonates with even young kids. It’s a K-pop movie, but it’s really a\u00a0movie for anybody who likes music.<\/p>\n
Q: One word: sequel?\u00a0<\/p>\n
A: There’s no official word yet, but I think we’re all excited to tell more stories in this world. And I think there’s room to expand it and explore more stories. And at this point, I feel like the fans are demanding it.<\/p>\n
Q: What makes this one so different?\u00a0<\/p>\n
A:\u00a0 I’ve learned so much from working on so many amazing projects over the years. And I think while working on them, I really honed my voice. And this one, I was like, I’m just going to unleash that voice and make it really, truly myself. And so I approached this movie, you know, wanting to not leave anything on the table, you know, be fearless and try things that I think could be scary, but let’s just go for it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toronto raised animator Maggie Kang’s directorial debut is now a global phenomenon. She is the creator and co-director…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123961,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[49,48,75,341],"class_list":["post-123960","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-music","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-entertainment","tag-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123960","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123960"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123960\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123961"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123960"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123960"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123960"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}